CONVICTED!

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. — John 16:8-11

Before the Holy Ghost ever represents you as your defense lawyer, He comes to convict you of sin as your prosecutor. The ultimate sin of all mankind is the murder of Jesus Christ either directly or indirectly: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6). There is indisputable evidence that places you at the scene of the crime:Your finger prints; your blood; your DNA.

Therefore the Court of Heaven has signed a warrant for your arrest: You are charged with murder—guilt by association. Your iniquity alone was enough to cause the crucifixion of an innocent man---Not only did Jesus die willingly because of his love for you; He died violently because of you.If convicted you will face the death penalty. Someone has to pay the price. To let the guilty go free would be an outrage of justice!

There is a Hell to pay!

I am aware that some teach that this “hell and brimstone” preaching is not needed because everybody knows they are sinners.

Do they?

What a shame that the omniscient Almighty God did not know this and determined that there was a need of the convicting ministry of the Holy Ghost.

Others will insist that the only sin he will convict of is the unbelief of Jesus. This is true but you must understand what that means. To not believe in Jesus is to automatically embrace every sin known to man. He is the only way; He is the only truth; He is the only life: No man comes to the Father except through Him! To reject Him is to embrace the crooked path; the biggest lie; the eternal death known as the Lake of Fire. Nothing good exists outside of His Kingdom of Righteousness: Outside the Blood of the Lamb we all are of the same root of evil that Adolph Hitler was. Outside the grace of God we all would be demon possessed lunatics!

What good in you could possibly keep from such an end? Can you quote one scripture that praises the goodness of man outside of Christ? Can you find any evidence of man ever initiating contact with the Almighty seeking repentance? Is it not true that we need the Holy Ghost to reprove us of sin because no man cometh to the Father except the Spirit draws him?

Reprove means “to convict, generally with a suggestion of shame of the person convicted. It is to bring to the light and expose, to reprehend severely. It implies the manifestation of the truth of the charge and the results to be reaped.” Shame is not a bad thing within this context: A rapist of a little girl who shows no remorse or shame for his actions would be labeled by even the most liberal as extremely repulsing! The attitude of the tax collector is still the right attitude: “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13)! He had had an encounter with the convicting power of the Spirit of God.

Conviction of sin is the first ministry you see on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Ghost wasted no time getting to the heart of the message: “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain” (Acts 2:23). They were guilty as charged and could not deny it in the face of such irrefutable evidence. What a startling revelation this must have been: I chose a murderer over the Prince of Life. How could I possibly be more deceived? How could I possibly be more wrong? Uh oh…..I am going to bust hell wide open!!

Men and brethren, what shall we do?

“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). Jesus Christ was that someone who paid the price of death with His life.He was the only Living Son of Man that could have paid such a price. Only the living can give their life: A dead man has no life to give.

Had the Holy Ghost not come, do you think that the three thousand that repented that day would have known that they were sinners?